etsu: 2011-2014

Baumgardner and Richards; Pages 28-31

The main idea of the reading was that women have come so far since 1970. We had basic rights, like voting, but we were abusing such rights by not voting or having no beliefs of our own. The essay described what a woman’s life was like in 1970. It described all the negative things women had to go through, such as, limited access to abortion, harmful birth control, sexual harassment, and single women being looked down upon. A mere 41 years ago women were openly treated as lesser beings than men.

I agree with the authors that women have moved up in society. We still have things like sexually liberated women being condemned and sexual harassment going without punishment, but it is not nearly as severe. 1970 does not seem like such a long time ago, but it terms of women’s rights that society seems archaic. It struck me how much feminists have accomplished and made me realize that there is still so much more we can do.